A Weekend of Silence
Staycation
A wonderfully quiet time was had by all this weekend. A substantial part of it was spent in Bates Hall at the Boston Public Library.
Quick walks to Fiouna's provided for some much needed Persian sustenance. Capped off by time perusing the Art of Asia at the MFA. The mystery of the John Singer Sergeant sketches found on the ground floor was solved by a trip to the Shapiro Colonnade and Rotunda.The Art of Japan was a fun reminder of past lives spent in Tokyo longing to find silence and meaning amongst the remote temples and dojos of ages past. Some time was also spent outdoors at Parker River in the -3 C temperatures on the salt marsh and walking the Atlantic Coast of the barrier beach.
Quiet as a Service
It's amazing how much noise we have in our lives today. The pleasure of simply being able to focus on one task at a time is a luxury. Being able to do so in a quiet environment seems to bolster the ability to focus and improve one's productivity immensely. In my own experience, being able to let thoughts and challenges percolate in the background works much better while being in a relatively calm and quiet surrounding. The courtyard and Bates Hall of BPL are fantastic places to allow this to happen. Over the past year or so, the Art of Asia galleries at the MFA are also seemingly less traveled but full of wonderful treasures even more impressive without the distracting din of hundreds of people shuffling around the gallery. While I'm sure the MFA is overjoyed to have this be the current state--their 90 minute wait to enter the Goya Exhibit as a fine signal in itself--it's tough to find quiet places full of beauty within a busy city.
In trying to find and map quiet places, I remember a wonderful summer dinner had with friends who discussed their plans for The Quiet Report. It seems they have made tremendous progress. I look forward to a future of quiet as a service!